Coupler for railway and like vehicles



Nov. 27, 1923. 1,475,812

H. GOOLD-ADAMS ET AL COUPLER FOR RAILWAY AND LIKE VEHICLES Filed March 10. 192i 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 fiza zzfans H k 0 (Z 26 igiziif/gzz aze 22 Nov. 27, 1923. 1,475,811?

H. GOOLD-AD'AMS ET AL COUPLER FOR RAILWAY AND LIKE VEHICLES Filed Mar c h 10. 1921 s Sheets-Sheet 2 3 $h'eets-Sheet 5 Zizv Nov. 27, 1923.

' H. GOOLD-ADAMS ET AL COUPLER FOR RAILWAY AND LIKE VEHICLES Filed March 10 Patented Nov. 27, 1923.

UNITED STATES HENRYGOOLDADAMS AND JOHN MITCHELL, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

COUPLER FOR RAILWAY AND LIKE VEHICLES.

Application filed March 10, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY Groom)- Anna s and JOHN AIITCHELL, both subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing in London, England, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements in Couplers for Railway and like Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to coupling devices for railway or other vehicles and consists in means by which a tight coupling is automatically maintained under all working conditions and irrespective of any wear in the coupler heads or coupling mechanism. The arrangement ensures that the heads of the coupled vehicles shall always be in contact, any slackness or play in the parts of the coupler being automatically taken up, with the result that the wear due to the constant jolting and shocks due to the actions and reactions of the loose parts is avoided and smoother running is attained.

The invention is more particularly applicable for locking devices for automatic couplings of the type in which a revolving disc hook is locked in the coupled position by a spring actuated transverse locking bar. In this type the coupler hook forms part of a circular disc carried by a pivot pin passing through the coupler head and when two vehicles approach, the shackle of one coupler engages with the vertical wall of a recess formed in the disc of the other coupler and rotates this disc, first by the pressure of the advancing shackle and afterwards by the weight of the shackles upon one wall of the recess of the disc. In the locking position a transverse bar under spring pressure passes through a suitably disposed recess in the periphery of the disc and holds the disc in the locked position. To uncouple the vehicle the bar is moved against the spring resistance until a recess in the bar is opposite the disc, which is then free to rotate as the vehicles are moved apart.

The drawbacks, due to the play of the parts which eventually occurs, are obviated by the present invention, according to which the locking bar, on account of its wedgeshaped formation and, as it is automatically advanced towards its central position under spring control, presses on the walls of the recess of the disc hook and causes a slight further rotation of the disc to maintain the coupler heads in contact.

If the uncoupling is to be eifected by Serial No. 451,179.

drawing out the locking bar from either side of the vehicle until one of two recesses similarly situated on opposite sides of the central section of the bar registers with the disc, a wedge formation must be provided 0 each side of this section.

If a single recess is provided, only one wedge form is necessary and the locking bar is moved always in the same direction for uncoupling, being pulled out by an operator on one side of the vehicle or pushed in from the other side.

Existing locking bars can be easily adapted to fulfill the functions of the invention by securing, by any appropriate means a wedge-shaped strip of suitable dimensions and form at one or both ends of the locking bar. H

In the accompanying drawings which rep resent an example of a coupling device according to the invention:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 1l, Fig. 2;

Fig. 1 is a view similar to Fig. 1 on a larger scale, showing one coupler head only;

Fig. 2 is a plan view;

Fig. 3 shows a locking bar removed from the coupler head; and

Fig. 4 shows a modified detail. I

In Fig. lthe coupler heads 1, 1 are shown in locked position, and the hooked end 3 of the. shackle 2 carried by the head 1 is shown as engaging a recess 4 provided in the disc 5 which is pivoted at 6, the shackle 2 of the head 1 lying on the lower shackle 2 The disc 5 has been rotated by engagement of the shackle 2 with one wall of the recess 4% from a position similar to that shown as occupied by the disc 5 until it has reached the position shown, in which the locking bar 7 has, under the action of a spring 8, entered a recess 9 in the disc 5.

The locking bar 7 is of the form shown in Figs. 1, 1, 2 and and is adapted to slide in an opening in the walls of the coupler head. A wedge shaped portion '10 of the bar '7 engages with the wall 11 of the recess 9 formed in the disk hook and a portion 12 slides in slots 13 provided in the coupler head. The spring 8 is placed over projections 14: formed in a longitudinal slot in the locking bar, the diameter of the spring being greater than the thickness of the bar. Segmental portions of the spring abut against the inner side wall of the coupler head so that the spring, which is normally under compression, tends to draw the bar 7 inwards and thereby to rotate the disc in the direction as shown by the arrow, thus forcing the shackle 2 to the right and maintaining the head 1 in contact with the head 1.

The side 15 of the wedge portion 10 oi. the locking bar is inclined as shown in Figs. 1 and 1 in order that, as the disc hook 5 is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow, the wedge 10 may engage for the whole length of its side with the approximately radial surface 11 of the recess 9.

For the purpose of unlocking the coupling, each locking bar 7, 7 is provided with a handle 16, 16 by which the bar can be drawn outwards until a recess 18 or 18 of the bar is opposite the disc, which is then free to rotate.

As the bar 7 or? is withdrawn, a latch 19 or 19 which is pivoted at 20 on the disc '5 or the disc 5 drops by gravity in the recess 18 or 18 of said bar and holds the locking bar in its pulled out position under the action of the spring 8, which presses the side of the recess 18 or 18 against the latch until the disc 5 or 5 has rotated far enough to carry the latch from its engagement in the recess, whereupon the bar is free to return to its lockin position, when, in again coupling the vehic es, the recess 9 is opposite the bar. As the disc hook rotates into the coupling position, the latch 19 or 19 is raised in known manner by a slight incline on one of the walls of the recess 18 or 18 In order to prevent the locking bar in its coupled position from being accidentally displaced, so that the recess 18- is brought opposite the disc 5, any suitable locking means may be provided. Such means are shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and l wherein a curved member 21 is shown as having slots 22 engaging the pins 23 secured to one of the inner side walls of the coupler head 1. A small block 2& on the member 21 in the normal position comes in front of a pro jection 25 on the locking bar and prevents the bar from sliding outwards sufiiciently far to allow the recess 18 to come opposite to the disc 5.

When the coupling is to be unlocked th hooked end 26 ot' the member 21 is moved to the right so that, by engagement of the pins 23 with the curved walls of the slots 22 of the member 21, the latter member is caused to rise and thus lifts the block at out of the path of the projection 25.

An alternative device for preventing any accidental displacement of the locking bar is shown in Fig. 4:, in which a pawl 27 pivoted in the coupler head engages with ratchet teeth 28 formed in one end of the 'bar 7.

Having described our invention, what we claim is:

A coupling for railway and like vehicles, con'iprising a rotatable disc hook having a recess, a locking bar adapted to enter said recess, said bar having a wedge-shaped surlace adapted tobear against one wall of said recess, and spring means automatically operating to insert said wedge surface into said recess when said disc is in coupling position.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

HENRY GOULD-ADAMS. JOHN MITCHELL. 

